Trifle with strawberries and cream cheese

Ingredients:

Sponge cake

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 0.5 cups of sugar
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• 0.5 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
• 0.5 cups premium flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp (15 g) butter, melted
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Trifle

• 1 cup whipping cream (30-35%)
• 125 g cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
• 1 liter fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced
• 1/3 cup strawberry jam
• 60-90 ml creamy sweet sherry
• White chocolate, for chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the bottom of a 23cm springform cake pan with parchment paper, but do not grease the pan.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar at high speed for about 5 minutes until they are almost white, have almost tripled in volume, and are stiff when the paddle is removed. Reduce the mixer to medium speed and add the lemon zest and juice.
3. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, keeping the mixer running. Set aside about 1 cup of the batter in a separate bowl and stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Add the resulting mixture to the remaining batter and knead until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until the center springs back when lightly pressed. Cool the cake completely without removing it from the pan.
4. Curd creamWhip the cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft, then whisk in the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract/vanilla paste. Gently fold in the whipped cream in 2 additions. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
5. Assembling the trifleTransfer the cream cheese filling to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Stir the berries into the jam. Cut the sponge cake in half and cut out 12 circles the size of trifle glasses (wine glasses or other pretty dishes).
6. Spoon a few strawberries into the bottom of a glass and top with a circle of sponge cake. Brush the sponge cake with sherry. Pipe cream cheese frosting on top and then repeat the layers of strawberries, sponge cake, sherry, and cream. Use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate shavings from the white chocolate and sprinkle them over the truffle before chilling it until serving. Trifle can be prepared in advance, 4 hours before serving..